Green Chile Rice Bake
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This Green Chile Rice Bake is the perfect one-pot dinner. Veggies, rice and beans are tossed together in a casserole dish and baked!
Do we love anything more than an easy one-pot dinner? I think not. And this Green Chile Rice Bake has everything you need in one casserole dish. Dry orzo & rice are dumped in a baking dish and then mixed with lots of veggies, white beans, salsa verde, taco seasoning and broth. Mix it up, top it with some vegan butter and bake. Pull it out, add your favorite toppings and dig in!
Step One: Dump and Bake
There aren’t too many steps for this recipe…it really is a dump and bake kinda recipe. So, grab a 9×13 baking dish and add in:
- orzo
- white rice
- zucchini
- bell peppers
- yellow onion
- jalapeño
- broth – I used vegan chicken broth
- taco seasoning
- white beans
- salsa verde
- green chiles
Give everything a mix and top it with a few slabs of vegan butter. Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes. Pull it out, mix again and bake for another 10-30 minutes.
Step Two: Add the Toppings
The fun part of this recipe is the toppings. And I recommend you really go crazy with them. Here are some of my favorite toppings:
- avocado
- cilantro
- green onions
- non-dairy yogurt or sour cream
- salsa
- hot sauce
And don’t just stop at the toppings – I also like to have lots of tortilla chips and lime wedges on the side!
This recipe is easy, veggie-packed and perfect for a weeknight dinner when you don’t feel like cooking. Also, feel free to switch out the veggies, depending on what you have on hand.
Need more recipe inspo? Check these out:
Green Chile Rice Bake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup orzo dry
- 1 cup white basmati rice dry
- 1 zucchini shredded
- 2 bell peppers cubed
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 jalapeño diced
- 2 cups broth I used vegan chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 2 15-ounce cans white beans drained and rinsed
- 12 ounces salsa verde homemade or store bought
- 1 4-ounce can green chiles
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter
- vegan yogurt, green onion, cilantro, tortilla chips, lime wedges optional for serving
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Add all of the ingredients (through the green chiles) to a 9×13 baking dish. Mix until everything is combined. Add 4 slabs of butter to the top, cover and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Stir everything, cover and place the baking dish back in the oven for 10-30 minutes – see recipe notes.
- Remove from the oven and add salt if needed. Serve hot with any of the optional toppings.
Video
Notes
- Due to reviews, I have updated the instructions to cover the baking dish before baking and extended the baking time. While my rice cooked fine uncovered in 40 minutes, the overwhelming response is that covered works better for most.
- Another take away from reviews is that oven temperature and type of rice used makes a HUGE difference in the cook time. Note, that this may take longer depending on your oven. And be sure to use basmati rice.
This was a fantastic casserole for my party. I love brown rice, so I parboiled the rice the night before. Then threw it in with all the other ingredients. I used 1/2 the broth to parboil it and the other half in the dish. It was perfect! Oh, and I used a trick I use with my lasagna to keep it from drying out. I place Saran Wrap on the dish under the tin foil. It doesn’t melt, just keeps moisture in.
Great tip! So glad you loved it!
Hi, I’m wondering if it would be okay to make this casserole without the vegan butter, without oil or butter? Thank you.
This was fantastic!! I used jasmine rice. Cooked for an hour covered. Whole house smells wonderful! I’ll be enjoying these leftovers for a few days yummy!!
Thanks so much Christian! So glad you loved it!
This is very tasty and couldn’t be easier to make! I threw this together on the weekend to eat for lunches this week. I didn’t have basmati rice and so I used whatever I had in the pantry (long grain?), which added a bit of extra baking time– not a big deal. I cooked it for 45-60 minutes. A small trade-off for almost no work and a complete, one pot meal. I would say the flavor is 4.5 stars, but it deserves a 5 star rating for ease and one-pot healthiness. I will definitely make this again!
Thanks so much! So glad you loved it!
This recipe worked out perfect. I loved being able to just put everything in 1 pan and then in the oven. So easy! I had no issues with the rice and orzo cooking properly (I have an electric oven)–I didn’t even stir it after 30 min. I kept it in for the full 45 minutes. I did bake it covered and let it sit to cool for awhile, while still covered, after it was done (at least 30 minutes). I made 2 pans and am planning on freezing the other. Thank you for this recipe!
So glad you loved it Hannah!
I made this tonight and it also took a really long time to cook the rice (at least an hour). I’m wondering if others who experienced a long cooking time also used brown basmati rice? It did not occur to me that there was white basmati rice and the recipe doesn’t specify white rice.
Brown rice will definitely add a lot of cooking time. I’ll update the recipe to clarify white basmati rice. Thanks for the feedback!
This recipe was great! I only needed the 40 min cook time and it was fine. I’m already planning to make this as a freezer meal for when my baby comes in February! I feel like freezing will work well for this recipe. I used Siete Foods green salsa
Thanks so much Lindsey! And congrats on your baby!
This looks fantastic! Could I use Arborio rice instead of basmati?
Thank you!
Will this freeze well?
I would freeze it in individual servings.
Flavor was good, and I would make again—with modifications. Like most everyone else, I had major issues with the rice not cooking. Probably took me about 3-4 times as long than the recipe recommended. (Sorry, I just don’t buy that a slight oven temp variance would make that drastic of a difference.) If I were making again, I would use only orzo, which was fully cooked in the 40 minutes recommended, or use minute rice or pre-cooked rice.
This was delicious! I chose spicy taco seasoning and spicy chile verde for a kick. I cooked 30 minutes covered with foil, took it out to stir, and back in for 30 minutes covered and was cooked perfect! I topped with crushed tortilla chips, avocado, lime, and cilantro!
So glad you liked this Chelsea! And you’re speaking my language with the spicy ingredients!
This recipe is extremely poorly written. There’s no universe where this can cook in 30 minutes. I did covered for thirty and the rice is completely raw. I’m going to just keep baking until it’s done and hopefully have for lunch tomorrow because it’s not going to be dinner!
So sorry it didn’t work out for you – I wrote it how I cooked it. Sounds like it could be an oven temperature variance.
Delicious! My kiddos aren’t enormous bean fans, so I only did one can of white beans and therefore reduced the verde salsa to 8oz. Cooked covered for 1 hour, stirring at 30 mins. Served w chips, cilantro, tomato, and lime slices. So good! My 7 year old finished his plate 😊.
Thanks Kara! So glad it was a hit with the whole family!
Tried it and it was great. The rice was amazing cooked through perfectly.
Edit: finished cooking about 2.5hrs after I started prepping the recipe. Tastes fine. There are easier ways to make a bean dip or a chili or whatever this is.
It’s unvetted and unhinged recipes like this that are the reason I’m insecure about my cooking. I’m a great cook, but because of everytime I tried to do something new and it turned out terrible, when I just started learning to cook, because the recipe is insane and I didn’t know any better. Now I do, this is a scam.
Followed directions and not an ounce of water has been absorbed by the rice and orzo. After reading the reviews I’m annoyed. I should have known this recipe was going to be an issue when it said to put slabs of butter on top at the end and my brain said, “Everybody’s so creative!”
So sorry it didn’t work out for you Luke. I can tell you, the rice cooked just fine for me the 3 times I tested this. This could be due to your oven temperature or type of rice you used.
I covered this and cooked it for an hour and the rice was still AL dente. Maybe a quicker cooking rice would be better.
LOVED this recipe! Very flavorful and perfect with tortilla chips!
Just had to cook the rice an extra 10-15 mins without extra broth and then it was fully cooked!
Thanks so much Cassie!
This was so good – everyone in the family loved it. I did have issues with the rice taking longer to cook. Can you tell me what kind of white rice you use?
I like to use basmati!
Oh my goodness. So good. I even added vegan cheese on top for some extra yumminess!!
Thanks Pam! So glad you enjoyed this!
The flavor is great, and I love all the veggies, but like the other reviews said, the rice does not cook. I’m wondering if starting with cooked rice would have been better.
I didn’t think this dish would have so much flavor but it does!
I did cover it and bake for an hour and the rice cooked just fine. The prep was so easy that the longer bake time wasn’t such a big deal. Perfect for lunch meal prep!
Thanks Chy! So glad you enjoyed this!
The flavors are good, but oh my gosh this took so long to cook! I started with the 30 minutes, then another 30 minutes, then 20 minutes, and finally another 10 minutes… And I’m still not sure that all the rice is fully cooked. Some of the rice is definitely overcooked at this point too. So, probably won’t make this again. I don’t generally have two hours to spare to cook something!
I made this today. Modified it by adding an extra cup of water. I bake it 45 minutes with a lid, stirred and then baked another 30 minutes with the lid on again. Added 1 tsp salt and 1 1/4 top black pepper. I took out about 1/2 of the seeds and membrane of the jalapeño as it was big. The dish had a lot of flavor and a good level of heat from the jalapeño. Will definitely make again. I served it with sour cream and avocado. Maybe I’m being too hard giving it 4 stars, but that is because it was all soft and there wasn’t any crunch. I would definitely crush some tortilla chips over the top of each serving for some crunch next time.
Reading this recipe, I clocked immediately that the cooking directions had to be wrong. After 30 minutes, the rice was still crunchy. I ended up adding 1.5 more cups of broth, covering it, and cooking for an additional 30 minutes before it was edible. This dish is a great, low-effort way to get your veggies in!
So glad you enjoyed it and were able to make it work for your oven!
Rice was barely cooked. Need another 30 minutes cooked and also covered as well.
Unfortunately the rice did take like an hour to cook, only after I decided to cover the dish with foil. Then the flavor profile wasn’t that exciting. May be the combination of the particular taco seasoning and salsa I used, though
Delicious, but not in a million years will the rice cook through following these instructions. Mine took an extra 25 min. + about a cup more of liquid.
Delicious! The rice seemed a little undercooked- should the dish covered when baking? Will use again!
I left mine uncovered, but I updated the recipe to include instructions if the rice seems undercooked. Thanks for the note!
Made this for dinner. Didn’t have green chilies and didn’t want to go to the store. Used a can of Rotel tomatoes. This is a great, easy and delicious meal!! Will need to freeze half because it makes a lot.
Sounds like the perfect swap!
This was delicious, just the right amount of spice and super easy to make. The whole family loved it, thanks for the great recipe.
So glad you and your fam liked it Felicia!
🤩 Wowza this is divine. Damn. Yum!!!
Thanks so much Amanda!
This was very good but took an hour to cook through as the rice just wouldn’t absorb the liquid. Maybe because I just used regular rice? One and a half cups without the orzo with one less bell pepper, and one less can of beans. It was just me and my husband, so I was trying to shrink the servings. I will make it again and use parboiled rice to see if that makes a difference, but will be prepared for it taking longer. Still a fun, different and tasty recipe.
Hi!
What would the measurements be for brown rice?
Can’t wait to make the is dish!!!!
Enjoy!!
This looks delicious!!! What kind of rice are you using here? I prefer to use jasmine or basmati. Would that change cooking time and/or amount of liquids?
I used basmati – and no the measurements will be the same for any white rice. It would only be different if you used brown rice!
If I replaced the orzo with the same amount of rice to make this GF would this turn out okay?
Yep! It will work exactly the same!